That's what some players in this week's Players Championship say about the penultimate hole on the Players Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass. At just 132 yards, the par-3 nevertheless strikes fear into the hearts of the world's best players.

More accurately, it's the water that surrounds the 4,000-square-foot green that sends a chill up the players' spines. With only a sliver of walkway connecting the hole to dry land, the 17th is one of the most recognizable — and cursed — holes in the game.

Resting amid a canyon of trees, winds swirl above the green and cause as much consternation as the water that ripples or swells around it. And the hole is the center of one of the nastiest, meanest three-hole finishing stretches in golf.

"The 17th is simply a nightmare," said Fred Funk, who five-putted the 17th in 2001 and made a bogey there en route to winning the Players in 2005.

"It's an all-or-nothing hole."

Or as Boo Weekley said, "Praying never hurts when you're standing on the tee at the 17th hole. And sometimes that doesn't even work."

Try as he does, 2004 Players champion Adam Scott can't get the hole out of his mind. Not after what happened in the 2006 Players. He started fearing the hole as he stood on the 12th tee already 11-over par for his round.

"I remember thinking whether or not I had enough golf balls to make it through the day," Scott said. "I was having the worst day of my life out there, and 17 was still to come.

"The water has a funny effect on all of us."

Even Tiger Woods. In 48 rounds as a pro around Sawgrass, the world No. 1 is 12 over par and has just four birdies on the island green. Of course, one of those threes was the "Better than most, better than most, better than most," bomb he made in the third round en route to victory in 2001.

"It's basically a little flip 9-iron, but during tournament week, the hole sort of shrinks up a little bit," Woods said. "You just have to be committed to what you want to do, suck it up and do it."

For 51 weeks of the year, the hole — and the water — has little effect on the players. But this week, with the $9.5 million-plus purse and all the prestige on the line, players start thinking about the hole when they pull into the parking lot. Some players say it's the scariest shot in golf. Others call it Russian Roulette with 9-irons and wedges. Bob Tway called it a lot of things, under his breath, mind you, when he knocked four balls into the water in 2005 and putted out for a 12, the highest score at the hole in tournament history.

"Pete just doesn't give you a par-3 where you can just pull a 9-iron and put it in the middle of the green and just get out of there," says Davis Love III, who won The Players in 1992 and 2003. "Even though you can tee the ball up and you don't have to worry about being behind a tree, all of the par-3s are extremely tough holes, especially when the wind blows on 17.

"You literally can make anything on that hole. On Pete's courses, the par-3s are difficult because he doesn't give you any room for bailout. You don't get a whole lot of outs on those holes, or the entire course for that matter."

This week

On a dry, fast and extremely firm Players Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass last year, Henrik Stenson made it look easy in the final round to win The Players Championship, his 10th career victory and by far his biggest. Stenson was the only player without a bogey on his round and missed just one fairway en route to a sterling 6-under-par 66 to beat runner-up Ian Poulter by four shots.

"I was thinking that if I could finish in front of Tiger, that might be good enough," Poulter said. "But I wasn't expecting someone to go out there and shoot 66."

Woods never got untracked and tied for eighth as Stenson finished at 12-under 276 and earned $1.71 million for a victory.

Stenson will defend against the deepest, most talented field of the season this week. The field includes every winner but three on the PGA Tour dating to last year's Players Championship — a total of 31 different players. Anthony Kim pulled out with a bad thumb, Retief Goosen is out with a broken toe and Steve Stricker is out with a bum shoulder.

The field includes 28 of the top 30 players from the world rankings, including No. 1 and 2001 Players champion Tiger Woods, who is coming off a missed cut in the Quail Hollow Championship (Woods has never missed a cut at the Players in 12 appearances). No. 2 Phil Mickelson, the winner here in 2007, is coming off a win at the Masters and a runner-up to Rory McIlroy in the Quail Hollow Championship.

There will be 52 players at TPC Sawgrass from outside the USA, representing 19 countries. Australia leads the way with 14 players.

Stats and quotes

Stat of the week: 32. Number of balls that landed in the water at the 17th hole during the 2009 Players. Since 2003, 363 balls during the Players Championship have found a resting place under water at the 17th — an average of 52 per year.

Stat of the week II: 2:13. Hours and minutes it took Carl Pettersson to play the final round of the Quail Hollow Championship as a single. The pace suited Pettersson, who shot 4-under-par 68.

Quote of the week: "For as beautifully designed as this golf course is tee to green, the greens are by far the worst designed greens we play on Tour. Even though they're in immaculate shape, I would say that 18 would be the worst green that we have on Tour, except that it's not even the worst on this golf course; 12 is." — Phil Mickelson after the third round of the Quail Hollow Championship at the Quail Hollow Club in Charlotte. The Tour doesn't discuss fines, but this comment probably earned one for Phil.

Quote of the week II: "Practice a little bit. It'll be interesting because I'll probably get home and hit balls on the range and I'm going to have to get up there to Ponte Vedra a little early to putt because Isleworth is all torn up. But at least I get the weekend to watch and see how it's done; how real players play golf, and hopefully I can piece it together for next week and be ready to go." — Tiger Woods after missing the cut at the Quail Hollow Championship.

Quote of the week III: "The money is great. Obviously it can go a long way. I'm building a range at the minute at (his Holywood, Northern Ireland) home, so that will pay for the trees. Trees are pretty expensive. I'm buying eucalyptus trees, leyland cypress, basically these big like evergreens, because there's a little part of (the range) that's visible from the road. I'm trying to put trees up there just so people can't see in and it's a bit more sheltered because it's where my short game area is going to be." — Rory McIlroy on what he will do with the $1.17 million check he received for winning the Quail Hollow Championship.

Chip-ins

Ten-year-old Mick Huffman of Maurice, La., could become the youngest player to win the U.S. Open. Harris Moore Jr. of Los Angeles, at 81, could become the oldest. The two were among the 9,052 entries for the June 17-20 U.S. Open at Pebble Beach Golf Links, including the entries from the 63 golfers who are currently fully exempt into the field. The USGA, which runs the tournament, received entries from golfers in all 50 states, the District of Columbia and 68 foreign countries, including 783 applicants who listed foreign addresses. To be eligible, a player must have a Handicap Index no higher than 1.4, or be a professional. Local qualifying, which will be played over 18 holes at 111 sites, will take place between May 7-20. Sectional qualifying, played over 36 holes, will be conducted at two sites (in Japan and England) on May 24 and 13 sites in the USA on June 7. It is the sixth consecutive year that the USGA has offered two international sectional qualifiers. …

We Are Golf, a new coalition led by four of the game's leading associations and supported by other small businesses, met with key members of Congress last week in conjunction with the third annual National Golf Day. The coalition promotes the economic, human, health and environmental benefits of the industry across the nation. The coalition was founded by the Club Managers Association of America, Golf Course Superintendents Association of America, National Golf Course Owners Association and the PGA of America. "Securing a seat at the policy table in Washington, D.C., and throughout the country requires us all to better define and illustrate the 'we' in We Are Golf," said Mike Hughes, CEO of the National Golf Course Owners Association. "Golf is more than just a game. It's one in 75 jobs, the monthly mortgage or car payment." The 2 million U.S. jobs generated by the multibillion-dollar industry (based on 2005 data), and its economic reach are at the core of the coalition's message. …

The World Golf Hall of Fame in St. Augustine, Fla., has acquired several key artifacts from 1998 inductee Johnny Miller related to his historic 1973 U.S. Open victory. The new collection of artifacts will be put on public display beginning April 30. The display will showcase various items from Miller, a 25-time PGA Tour winner and current lead golf analyst for NBC, including his 1973 U.S. Open winner's medal as well as the irons, woods, driver, putter and MacGregor golf bag he used in the championship. His final-round 63 in the '73 Open was the first 63 shot in major championship history and remains the lowest final-round score in U.S. Open history. In addition to Miller's items, the World Golf Hall of Fame also is currently featuring the special exhibition. "Bob Hope: Shanks for the Memories," and an audio tour, "Voices from the Hall," with over 175 stops throughout the museum. For more information, visit www.WorldGolfHallofFame.org.

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